oil changes

[WinterDeere]

So, my trusty old 855 owner's manual puts the oil change interval at 200 hours. I put less than 100 hours per year on this machine, maybe even less than 67 hours per year. But, something about waiting 2 - 3 years to do an oil change just doesn't seem right to me. I'm thinking best practice might be to just change the oil yearly.

That said, if that system is designed to have the oil filter changed every 200 hours, I see no point in changing the filter after a 60 hour year. Might as well wait the 2 - 3 years it takes me to accumulate 200 hours, for the filter change. That's more about the inconvenience of getting to a dealer to buy the filter, than cost.

What's the wisdom of the group?

 

[JD 4520]

You really should change the oil and filter yearly and the manual likely states so. Every 200 hours or yearly, whatever comes first. It is cheap insurance

 

[RalphVa]

I don't know. On my generators and pickup, I'm going to changes about every 3rd year. Using synthetic. May do every other year on this new tractor after the first 50 hours, as I only put about 60 hours/yr on it.

Ralph

 

[Henri88]

I may be wrong, but my understanding for changing the oil yearly (if hours are not met) is not because oil breaks down in a year, but because of contaminant that will accumulate such as water due to condensation during a year. There is a reason why every manufacture starting from lawnmowers to cars right up to heavy equipment will ask for an oil change after a year if hours or mileage have not been reach. To me it is a small price to pay, inconvenient or not, just to know I have good clean oil when doing hard work with my equipment. And yes, you should change oil filter. jmo

 

[greg_g]

Yeah, I don't get the rationale in stretching out oil changes, or - for that matter - preventative maintenance in general. Compared to the $36k I paid for my 3720, a few bucks for oil and a filter to protect that investment - seems like chump change.

//greg//

 

[Dusty45701]

Yeah, I don't get the rationale in stretching out oil changes, or - for that matter - preventative maintenance in general. Compared to the $36k I paid for my 3720, a few bucks for oil and a filter to protect that investment - seems like chump change.

//greg//

+1
That is also the time you should be looking around to make sure everything is operating correctly.
That being said, my dump truck filter is now just over a year old

 

[WinterDeere]

I'm with you guys 100%. I do all maintenance on all equipment like clockwork, however (unless I somehow missed it), the 855 manual does NOT state "or yearly". It just says 200 hours, period. Hence the question.

My oil was last changed 11/27/12, so I was planning to do it this weekend. Unfortunately, this means I'm going to need to kill half my Saturday morning, running to the Deere dealer and back.

There's only two in my area, neither particularly close to my home, and both parts counters are very busy on Saturday mornings. They still keep the hours they kept 40 years ago, with no evening hours, even though their entire business has shifted from Ag (no farms left here!) to homeowners. One dealer told me they haven't sold an Ag tractor in 8 years, but they sell plenty of CUT's and Gators.

 

[Katahdin]

The only way to know if the oil is ready to change is to send a sample away to a lab and await the results.

I've sent in one two-year-old-oil sample to NAPA's test service with about 100 hours on it. The lubrication and moisture content report came back fine. This is what most people here are probably concerned about. However, the lab recommend an oil change for other reasons: high iron and silicon contaminants. Note this oil sample was from the engine of a 47-year-old surplus military truck, so those results should not be a surprise.

 

[hosspuller]

You may consider looking for a closer Deere dealer. Know that Deere has different dealers for different markets... Construction, lawn & turf, Ag. But all can get any part you want. Price is the same. I get all my tractor, lawn mower, backhoe parts from a nearby Deere construction dealer . The Ag dealer is many miles away. L&G is only 30 miles away. but the construction dealer was on my way to work.

Also many filters are used across a lot of equipment lines. My Deere construction dealer stocks all the oil & air filters for ALL of my machines. Many other parts (hose, fittings, fasteners, etc) are common too. On parts that aren't in stock ... I ask for parts to be in their regular semiweekly part shipment to avoid shipping charges. But If needed, I could have any part overnight or sooner if I pay freight.

 

[techwrtr2]

You may consider looking for a closer Deere dealer. Know that Deere has different dealers for different markets... Construction, lawn & turf, Ag. But all can get any part you want. Price is the same. I get all my tractor, lawn mower, backhoe parts from a nearby Deere construction dealer . The Ag dealer is many miles away. L&G is only 30 miles away. but the construction dealer was on my way to work.

Also many filters are used across a lot of equipment lines. My Deere construction dealer stocks all the oil & air filters for ALL of my machines. Many other parts (hose, fittings, fasteners, etc) are common too. On parts that aren't in stock ... I ask for parts to be in their regular semiweekly part shipment to avoid shipping charges. But If needed, I could have any part overnight or sooner if I pay freight.

The 855 takes a Wix 51334 oil filter or NAPA 1334. There are other which cross to it as well. I was more than slightly happy when I discovered this as this means I have 3 engines using the exact same oil filter. My 855, the Satoh Beaver and my Subaru. 4 if you count my mother's Subaru which I also maintain.

As for my change interval, haven't concluded which is really better. The oil currently in my 855 is about 2 years old and I plan to change it soon. When I do, I'm going to get it analyzed for condition and engine wear. Probably do the same with the Satoh.

One thing I make a practice of doing is avoiding short duration operation. Sometimes cannot avoid it, but for the most part I try to do enough with the engine to bring it to full tempurature prior to parking it again. I've been known to allow it outside overnight so I don't run it for 90 seconds and shut it down.